National News

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Uber [UBER.UL] had disabled an emergency braking system in a self-driving vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Arizona in March after failing to identify the pedestrian, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Thursday. The report said the modified 2017 Volvo XC90's radar systems observed the pedestrian six seconds before impact but "the self-driving system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle." At 1.3 seconds before impact, the self-driving system determined emergency braking was needed. Uber Technologies Inc, which voluntarily suspended testing in the aftermath of the crash in the city of Tempe - the first death involving a fully self-driving vehicle - said on Wednesday it would shut down its Arizona self-driving testing program and focus on limited testing in Pittsburgh and two cities in California.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a posthumous pardon to boxer Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion, who was jailed a century ago due to his relationship with a white woman. "I believe Jack Johnson is a worthy person to receive a pardon, to correct a wrong in our history," Trump said. In a case that came to symbolize racial injustice, Johnson was arrested in 1912 with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, for violating the Mann Act.

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives broke on Thursday for an 11-day recess with majority Republicans deadlocked over legislation to protect "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation while President Donald Trump insisted that Congress meet all his hard-line immigration demands. Republicans have been deeply divided for years over immigration.

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed a decision by the National Football League to fine teams if players on the field refuse to stand for the national anthem, saying in an interview broadcast on Thursday that if they do not want to stand, perhaps they should not be in the United States. Last season some NFL players took a knee during the anthem to protest police shootings of unarmed black men, sparking a controversy. Trump denounced the players as unpatriotic and repeatedly demanded an end to such protests.

United Airlines has reached a "resolution" with the owners of a small French bulldog puppy that died during a flight after a cabin attendant ordered it stowed in an overhead bin in March, the carrier said on Thursday. "We are deeply sorry for this tragic accident and have worked with the Robledo family to reach a resolution," the carrier said in a statement. United did not disclose how much it would pay the family of the dog, Kokito, in the settlement.

A former town official in New York's Nassau County was found not guilty on Thursday of taking bribes from a restaurateur, as jurors continued to weigh the fate of the county's former top elected executive charged in the same case. Former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto was acquitted following a trial in federal court in Central Islip, New York, according to John Marzulli, a spokesman for federal prosecutors.

(Reuters) - A broad low-pressure system drifting slowly northward over the eastern Yucatan Peninsula has a 70 percent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday. A subtropical or tropical depression is likely to form by late Saturday over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, the NHC said. (This version of the story has been refiled to fix typographical error in headline to make it "hurricane" instead of "hurrican") (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board on Thursday urged chemical plants to weigh the risks of natural disasters just as they would the integrity of pipes and production equipment. "Such facilities should perform an analysis to determine their susceptibility to extreme weather events," the board said in its final report on a chemical fire at the Arkema SA plant in Crosby, Texas, during Hurricane Harvey in August and September 2017. "In addition, companies should assess seismic hazard maps to determine the risk of earthquakes and consider the risk of other extreme weather such as high-wind events," the board said in the report.

By Jill Serjeant LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At age 81, and with a terminal cancer diagnosis, U.S. Senator John McCain is looking back on his life, not with rancor or to settle old scores, but with immense gratitude. "John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls," an HBO documentary premiering on May 28, takes its title from the Ernest Hemingway novel that McCain says he has used as a guide for his life. "You will never talk to anyone who is as fortunate as John McCain," says the six-term senator from Arizona, two-time presidential candidate and Vietnam War hero, summing up his life.

(This version of the May 21st story corrects first paragraph to say fourth-deadliest school shooting, not fourth deadly school shooting) By Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - Mourners knelt before white wooden crosses on Monday outside the Texas high school where 10 people were killed in the fourth-deadliest U.S. school shooting this year, an image recalling similar gatherings after February's Florida school massacre. A few dozen people, including student survivors of the attack, family members, chaplains and police, gathered at 10 a.m. outside Santa Fe High School to observe a moment of silence called for by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Victims and survivors of Texas mass shootings are expected to take part in a final round of talks on Thursday with Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking ways to stop gun massacres after a shooter killed 10 people in a Houston-area high school. Students and parents from Santa Fe High School, where a gunman killed eight students and two teachers last Friday, will be joined by several people from Sutherland Springs, where 26 churchgoers were killed in a mass shooting in November, Abbott's office said in a statement.

By Marco Garcia PAHALA, Hawaii (Reuters) - The restive Kilauea Volcano belched clouds of ash into the skies over Hawaii's Big Island twice more on Wednesday as civil defense authorities reported that pressurized geothermal wells at a nearby power plant had been spared from approaching lava. The latest back-to-back upheavals of ash from the main summit crater of Kilauea -- one before dawn and another several hours later -- came on the 21st day of what geologists rank as one of the biggest eruption cycles in a century from one of the world's most active volcanoes. The earlier ash plume rose to a height of 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), while the later one reached about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), authorities said.

United Airlines executives faced questions about ending its discount for a gun rights group and how it treats its workers at the carrier's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday. Asked about United's decision to sever ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the wake of the recent U.S. high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said the decision was reached largely in response to a United pilot's daughter who was killed in the massacre. United was one of several companies, including rival Delta Air Lines Inc, to end its relationship with the NRA after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 students and staff members dead.

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott sought consensus on firearms in a second round of talks on preventing gun violence on campus on Wednesday and may look at "red flag laws" to keep guns out of the hands of people deemed by a judge to be danger to themselves or others. After last week's fatal shooting of 10 people in a Houston-area high school, Abbott invited the Texas State Rifle Association, affiliated with the National Rifle Association, and Texas Gun Sense, which favors tighter gun laws, to join him in Austin, the state capital. Alice Tripp, legislative director of the Texas State Rifle Association, told reporters after the meeting she found "no common ground" with groups at the session supporting tougher gun laws.

Pressure from parents and community members to find solutions, both high and low tech, has grown in the wake of deadly mass shootings at high schools in Parkland, Florida, and Santa Fe, Texas, among other violent incidents. Meanwhile, some schools are spending precious funds on untested technologies, safety experts said, even though the most robust and effective safety measures can only mitigate the risk, not eliminate it. School officials must also strive to balance the need for security with a desire to preserve an atmosphere conducive to learning, experts said, warning that schools can become fortified bunkers that feel like prisons to students.

Using a false name, Tyler Barriss, 25, of California, contacted Wichita authorities and reported that after a fight between his parents, he had shot and killed his father, held his mother and brother at gunpoint and threatened to light the house on fire before committing suicide, according to the indictment unsealed on Wednesday. A Wichita police officer fatally shot Andrew Finch, 28, after law enforcement officials rushed to his home following the false reports. On Dec. 28, Casey Viner, 18, of Ohio, got into a dispute while playing an online game with Shane Gaskill, 19, of Kansas, the indictment said.

By Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Uber has shut down its self-driving car operation in Arizona two months after a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles, the company said on Wednesday. Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] is not shuttering its entire autonomous vehicle program and will focus on limited testing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and two cities in California, a spokeswoman said. Arizona's wide, flat roads, good weather and corporation-friendly regulations are considered ideal to test autonomous vehicles.

By Laura Zuckerman PINEDALE, Wyo. (Reuters) - State wildlife officials approved plans on Wednesday for Wyoming's first season of grizzly bear hunting in 43 years, a move cheered by sportsmen but decried by Native Americans and conservation groups fighting to restore Endangered Species Act protections to the bears. The decision, clearing the way for hunters to shoot and kill as many as 22 grizzlies in a season that begins on Sept. 1, comes two weeks after the neighboring state of Idaho approved a plan allowing for no more than one grizzly to be taken in its hunting season opening the same day. The stage for state-licensed hunting of grizzlies outside of Yellowstone National Park was set last June when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the large, hump-shouldered bears would cease to be listed as a threatened species in the region.

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Two groups at opposite ends of the gun debate will meet Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday as part of a second round of talks on preventing gun violence on campus, a response to last week's fatal shooting of 10 people in a Houston-area high school. Abbott invited representatives from the Texas State Rifle Association, which is affiliated with the National Rifle Association, and Texas Gun Sense, which favors gun control, to join him in Austin, the state capital. A group of experts are also expected to take part in the second of three round tables that the governor said would focus on mental health issues and the causes of gun violence.

By Marco Garcia VOLCANO, Hawaii (Reuters) - The restive Kilauea Volcano belched clouds of ash into the skies over Hawaii's Big Island twice more on Wednesday as civil defense authorities reported that pressurized geothermal wells at a nearby power plant had been secured from approaching lava. The latest back-to-back upheavals of ash from the main summit crater of Kilauea -- one before dawn and another several hours later -- came on the 21st day of what geologists rank as one of the biggest eruption cycles in a century from one of the world's most active volcanoes. The Hawaii County Civil Defense agency warned in its latest bulletin that residents downwind of Kilauea should take care to avoid exposure to ash, which can cause eye irritation and breathing difficulties, particularly in people with respiratory problems.

By Michael Martina and Lesley Wroughton BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An American citizen working at the U.S. consulate in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has reported suffering from "abnormal" sounds and pressure leading to a mild brain injury, the U.S. embassy said on Wednesday and China said it was investigating the incident. The embassy, which issued a health alert to Americans living in China, said it could not link the case to health issues suffered by U.S. government staff in Cuba dating back to late 2016.

The National Football League will fine teams if players on the field refuse to stand for the national anthem, the league said on Wednesday in a victory for U.S. President Donald Trump, who loudly demanded an end to such protests last year. Some NFL players knelt during the anthem to protest police shootings of unarmed black men, sparking a controversy as Trump criticized the players as being unpatriotic. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday announced a new policy that will fine teams if players on the field fail to stand during the "Star-Spangled Banner." Players who choose not to stand may now remain in the locker room until after the anthem is finished.

(Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed several legislative initiatives on Wednesday to advance the state's clean energy goals, including a controversial bill that would subsidize the continued operation of nuclear power plants. The new nuclear law, which could cost about $300 million a year, establishes a Zero Emissions Certificate (ZEC) program to maintain New Jersey's nuclear energy supply, which contributes close to 40 percent of the state's electric capacity and is by far its largest source of carbon free energy. Plants seeking to participate in the program would be required, among other things, to demonstrate that they make a significant contribution to New Jersey air quality and are at risk of closure within three years.

A group of Democratic voters asked a federal court on Wednesday to throw out a Republican-drawn map of Ohio's 16 U.S. House of Representatives districts, saying the boundaries were devised to entrench Republicans in power in violation of the voters' constitutional rights. Democratic voters residing in all of the districts filed suit in Cincinnati against Ohio Governor John Kasich and other Republican state officials over a practice called partisan gerrymandering. The U.S. Supreme Court is due by the end of June to issue rulings in two major partisan gerrymandering cases from Wisconsin and Maryland that could affect the Ohio suit.

Uber has shut down its self-driving car operation in Arizona two months after a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles, the company said on Wednesday. Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] is not shuttering its entire autonomous vehicle program, a spokeswoman said, adding that it will focus on limited testing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and two cities in California. "We're committed to self-driving technology, and we look forward to returning to public roads in the near future," the spokeswoman said.

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top executive of USA Gymnastics apologized during a congressional hearing on Wednesday to hundreds of female athletes who were sexually abused by longtime team doctor Larry Nassar and declared that "those days are over." Kerry Perry, chief executive of USA Gymnastics since December, said she was "appalled and sickened" by Nassar's sexual abuse of athletes while he was a USA Gymnastics volunteer. "First, I want to apologize to all who were harmed by the horrific acts of Larry Nassar," she said during the hearing of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee looking into whether U.S. Olympic sports have done enough to protect athletes from sexual abuse.

A U.S. veteran of the war in Iraq on Wednesday pleaded guilty to fatally shooting five people to death at Fort Lauderdale International Airport in January 2017, in a deal approved by a federal judge that spared him the death penalty. Esteban Santiago, 28, agreed in U.S. District Court in Miami to a plea deal that calls for him to serve five consecutive life sentences followed by 120 years in prison without a right to appeal. Santiago flew from his home in Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Lauderdale, retrieved a Walther 9mm pistol and two clips of ammunition that he had checked on the flight and opened fire near a baggage carousel.

By Daniel Trotta NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Parkland, Florida, school massacre has had little lasting impact on U.S. views on gun control, three months after the shooting deaths of 17 people propelled a national movement by some student survivors, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday. While U.S. public support for more gun control measures has grown slowly but steadily over the years, it typically spikes immediately after the mass shootings that have become part of the U.S. landscape, then falls back to pre-massacre levels within a few months. The poll found that 69 percent of American adults supported strong or moderate regulations or restrictions for firearms, down from 75 percent in late March, when the first poll was conducted following the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday it is probing cracks in a deadly pedestrian bridge collapse in Florida and plans additional testing as it works to determine the cause, according to a preliminary report. The Miami bridge collapse at Florida International University killed one bridge worker and five in vehicles. The NTSB said it is evaluating the bridge design, construction process, and the construction materials and the emergence of cracks in several areas of the bridge.

Through all the confusing experiences since they arrived in February, Htoo, his wife Htoo Say and their 2-year-old child had been guided by a refugee center run by the non-profit International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of nine designated resettlement agencies in the country. Now, on an overcast March morning, staff members were eager to help him land a job quickly.

An American consulate worker at a U.S. consulate in southern China has returned to the United States for further evaluation after reporting symptoms that appear similar to those of head concussion or mild brain injury, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

A New York state judge has backed a couple's battle to kick their 30-year-old son out of their home because he has not contributed toward household expenses or helped with chores and they wanted him to get a job. New York State Supreme Court Judge Donald Greenwood on Tuesday ordered Michael Rotondo to leave his parents' home in the town of Camillus, about 200 miles(320 km) northwest of New York City, according to Anthony Adorante, an attorney for the parents, Mark and Christina Rotondo.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that a 'sonic attack' reported in Guangzhou, China, had similarities to incidents in Cuba where U.S. diplomats later became ill.

Harnessing the "foiling" technology more typically seen on racing catamarans in sailing's America's Cup, the surfboards appear to fly above the water thanks to a fin attached to the bottom of the board. "You feel like a little kid," said professional athlete and stuntman Chuck Patterson, who rides a custom short board with a aluminum and fiberglass hydrofoil. The foil is like a wing that extends into the water under the surfboard.

Pirate attacks around South American and Caribbean waters are growing, and violence is increasingly used during robberies committed on vessels at anchor, a report showed on Wednesday. The Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) non-profit group recorded 71 incidents in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017, a 163 percent increase over 2016. OBP said the majority of the attacks occurred in territorial waters, with around 59 percent of incidents involving robbery on yachts.

(Reuters) - A high school math teacher in Kentucky rode a wave of discontent among educators on Tuesday when he defeated a rising Republican star in a primary for a seat in the state's House of Representatives. Travis Brenda, 43, pulled a 51-49 percent upset in the race for the state's 71st district seat over House Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Shell, who had the backing from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, according to local media. Brenda said Shell called him and conceded, the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper reported.

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two-hundred faculty members of the University of Southern California on Tuesday called for the USC's top official to resign over the school's handling of complaints that a campus health clinic gynecologist sexually abused his patients during pelvic exams. The demand for USC President C.L. Max Nikias to step down came in an open letter from professors to the school's Board of Trustees as USC faced a mounting tide of litigation accusing Dr. George Tyndall of misconduct and the university of complicity and negligence. Tyndall resigned from the university last year after an internal inquiry found his pelvic examination practices were beyond accepted medical standards and that he had harassed patients.

Democratic voters rallied on Tuesday for the chance to make history in November by selecting a ticket filled with female candidates, including a bid to elect the first African-American female governor in the United States. Stacey Abrams won the party's nomination for governor in Georgia, where she faces long odds in a Republican-dominated southern state testing divergent Democratic strategies. Contests in Texas and Kentucky also moved women to the forefront of the fight for the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrats need to wrest 23 seats from Republicans to gain control.

By Jolyn Rosa HONOLULU (Reuters) - Lava from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano is exploding as it pours into the ocean, shooting rock fragments that are a danger to boaters. Inland, where molten rock is burning through jungle, methane explosions are hurling boulders while toxic gas is reaching some of the highest levels seen in recent times. Lava edged towards a geothermal power plant on Tuesday after destroying an old warehouse near the facility, County of Hawaii Civil Defense said.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that federal law protects a transgender student who fought all the way to the Supreme Court for the right to use a bathroom at a high school in Virginia that corresponded with his gender identity. U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk rejected a bid by the Gloucester County School Board to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit filed by student Gavin Grimm. The judge said Grimm has valid claims under a federal law, called Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, that bars discrimination on the basis of sex in education as well as the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Days after 10 people were shot to death at Texas high school, Governor Greg Abbott met with politicians and school administrators on Tuesday to consider proposals to stem school violence in a state where gun-control measures usually sink in the Republican-controlled legislature. About 20 people, including those who support arming teachers, attended the first of three days of meetings in the state capital, Austin, following the fourth-deadliest U.S. school shooting this year at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday.

The suspect, identified as Kevin Holroyd, 49, fired multiple rounds at officers from a second-floor apartment before he was found dead inside, Tommy Ford, sheriff of Bay County where Panama City is located, told a news conference. Holroyd was wanted in connection with a homicide investigation in nearby Walton County, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook. The homicide victim, 30-year-old Clinton Street, died from multiple gunshot wounds before 9 a.m. CDT on Tuesday, Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia said in a phone interview.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that federal law protects a transgender student who fought all the way to the Supreme Court for the right to use a bathroom at a high school in Virginia that corresponded with his gender identity. U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk rejected a bid by the Gloucester County School Board to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit filed by student Gavin Grimm. The judge said Grimm has valid claims under a federal law, called Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, that bars discrimination on the basis of sex in education as well as the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett said he is concerned about public backlash that could emerge when a video of police officers tasing Bucks guard Sterling Brown is released to the public this week. "I'm going to let the release of that speak for itself, but yes, I definitely have concerns after watching that video," Barrett told reporters Monday, adding that Police Chief Alfonso Morales felt similarly. In the body-camera video, which could be released as soon as Wednesday, Brown "doesn't appear to be provocative at all" before officers use a stun gun on him, a source told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Trump administration is preparing to publish on Thursday long-delayed proposed rule changes for the export of U.S. firearms, a State Department official said on Tuesday. The rule changes would move the oversight of commercial firearm exports from the U.S. Department of State to the Department of Commerce. The action is part of a broader Trump administration overhaul of weapons export policy that was announced in April.

By Serena Maria Daniels and John Shiffman DETROIT (Reuters) - A Detroit businessman who sold and leased human body parts was sentenced to nine years in prison Tuesday for selling diseased remains to medical educators. Arthur Rathburn, 64, is the third and most significant person convicted as part of a national investigation into the largely unregulated market for body parts in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating other so-called body brokers in Illinois, Oregon and Colorado, and has executed search warrants in each of those cases.

Toby Crouse, Kansas' solicitor general, said the new plan provides an adequate and equitable funding formula. Alan Rupe, an attorney representing school districts that sued the state, said an additional $506 million was needed just in fiscal 2019, which begins July 1, with inflation-adjusted increases to reach as much as $2 billion in higher funding in future years.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that two high-profile school bus crashes in 2016 that led to 12 deaths were the result of poor oversight of drivers that should not have been behind the wheel. "In both crashes, we saw poor driver oversight, both by the school districts and by the contracted motor carriers that provided student transportation services," NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a board meeting Tuesday. Johnthony Walker, the driver of a school bus that crashed in Tennessee in 2016 that killed six children, was convicted in March of six counts of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced last month to four years in prison.

The female Baltimore County officer, Amy Caprio, on Monday had confronted burglary suspects who attempted to flee in a vehicle, sparking a violent altercation that left the nearly four-year-veteran of the force critically injured, police said. Sixteen-year-old Dawnta Harris, was arrested shortly after Monday's altercation and was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, Baltimore police spokesman Natalie Litofsky said in a post on Twitter. Heavily armed Maryland police working with dogs had searched through the night for the other three suspects.

Through all the confusing experiences since they arrived in February, Htoo, his wife Htoo Say and their 2-year-old child had been guided by a refugee center run by the non-profit International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of nine designated resettlement agencies in the country. Now, on an overcast March morning, staff members were eager to help him land a job quickly.